Hometown crowd of thousands cheer Ill. paint store clerk Lee DeWyze to “American Idol” win
By APThursday, May 27, 2010
Local Ill. crowd cheers “American Idol” winner
MOUNT PROSPECT, Ill. — It didn’t take a national vote to convince an Illinois hometown crowd that Lee DeWyze was the new “American Idol.”
Hours before the paint store clerk prevailed over Crystal Bowersox in the singing contest’s ninth season, thousands of fans gathered in front of a giant television screen in a park in Mount Prospect to cheer on the 24-year-old DeWyze. Mount Prospect is about 20 miles northwest of Chicago.
Many wore yellow or teal T-shirts and waved yellow balloons as they chanted “We believe! We believe!”
Police spokesman Mark Bechtold says fans “set off fireworks when Lee won, and the crowd went nuts for about 10 straight minutes.”
Bechtold estimates that about 5,500 people turned out and says no problems were reported.
